[audiobomber]

My Sabaj Da2 is fried. There's a lot of static electricity during the heating season here. There were several times when I touched the DAC to change volume, and there was a static discharge. The DAC would stop working but I was able to restart it. The last time this happened, the DAC was terminal. Warranty is expired. Not happy!

 

[Makahl]

I don't know exactly what kind of sorcery is this but SABAJ DA2 (iDEA) when I've installed the official XMOS driver and changed the option at "Buffer Settings" from "Reliable" to "Standard" (pic) the sub-bass which was kind of shy now it got way more impact hitting deeper than usual. I'd guess it's just the filter settings with odd names.

Also, If someone with this device can test and report if you get the same result as mine would be nice - so I can be sure it's not placebo.

(If you're on W10 probably you need to close all applications before changing it).

 

[warbles]

I don't know exactly what kind of sorcery is this but SABAJ DA2 (iDEA) when I've installed the official XMOS driver and changed the option at "Buffer Settings" from "Reliable" to "Standard" (pic) the sub-bass which was kind of shy now it got way more impact hitting deeper than usual. I'd guess it's just the filter settings with odd names.

Also, If someone with this device can test and report if you get the same result as mine would be nice - so I can be sure it's not placebo.

(If you're on W10 probably you need to close all applications before changing it).

hello... when i hit 'buffer settings' on my driver panel i only ever get this (see screenshot) showing! How come yours is different, I wonder?

 

[PlantsmanTX]

I don't know exactly what kind of sorcery is this but SABAJ DA2 (iDEA) when I've installed the official XMOS driver and changed the option at "Buffer Settings" from "Reliable" to "Standard" (pic) the sub-bass which was kind of shy now it got way more impact hitting deeper than usual. I'd guess it's just the filter settings with odd names.

Also, If someone with this device can test and report if you get the same result as mine would be nice - so I can be sure it's not placebo.

(If you're on W10 probably you need to close all applications before changing it).

I tried it and couldn't hear any difference. That doesn't necessarily mean you didn't, though.

 

[korwynkim]

My iDea stays hot even when my computer is off. Does anyone else experience this?

 

[Chessblitzer2017]

Dafuq never had that issue

 

[korwynkim]

The blue LED stays on too. I can plug it into a completely off computer and it will heat up in a few minutes.

 

[Hal Rockwell]

My iDea stays hot even when my computer is off. Does anyone else experience this?

It might be, if your PC has USB ports that stay active even when the computer is off, to be used as charging ports for various devices. You should check your MB manual, to see if the port that iDea is connected to, is such a port, and, either switching to another port, or disabling the charging function in the BIOS.

 

[Little Wings]

Ahhhh now that makes sense /\ ,

Well in that case, everything is working and it will just be an adjustment period from my pre-external DAC days. I was approaching the external all wrong .
From now on i'll keep this iPhone at max and step up and down using the iDEA volume controls.
I just received my 1More Triple Driver Lightning from massdrop which I thought would render the iDEA useless but the sound it provides is cleaner than the lightning only headphone i have tried.

In any case, here's the rig.Used some 3m velcro to keep things intact
Thanks for your help on this

.

Here's my Chi-Fi portable solution with the IDEA. Velcro'ed to the back of my iPhone 8 Plus with a pair of Tin T2's.
I've tried 3 non Apple lightning to USB adapters and the only one that works is this one with an SD card reader and a lightning input. Still, it fails at extreme volume levels. Feels like a power draw problem.
Everything is fine and dandy but there's a bug with the iPhone's volume vs the DAC's own volume. They're independent and don't acknowledge each other.
Every so often after pausing or locking the phone, even though the phone's volume is pushed all que way up, I get no sound, only a smidge when the DAC's volume is pushed all the way up. I tried multiple workarounds until I found a solution. When no sound is heard with the iPhone's volume all the way up, push the volume all the way to 0, then one notch up using the volume button on the side of the device. Unplug the lightning cable and do the same, this time using the onboard speakers. Plug the lightning cable again, wait a few seconds for the phone to recognise the DAC, press play then push the volume all the way up. Now you should have a passthrough and your volume will be controlled by the IDEA.

Sound wise, it's very good.

 

[al2813]

I was close to pull the trigger on a dragonfly red (was even considering the cobalt) when I found this thread. How does the idea compared with the dragonfly? Another question is the iPhone match. I saw previous posts reporting success with an MFI certified lightning to micro usb cable. The last post here describes a much more complicated setup. I need a portable setup and cannot travel with 3 dongles connected to each other....

 

[PlantsmanTX]

I was close to pull the trigger on a dragonfly red (was even considering the cobalt) when I found this thread. How does the idea compared with the dragonfly? Another question is the iPhone match. I saw previous posts reporting success with an MFI certified lightning to micro usb cable. The last post here describes a much more complicated setup. I need a portable setup and cannot travel with 3 dongles connected to each other....

At this point, you might do better by looking at the two Ibasso dongles.

 

[al2813]

At this point, you might do better by looking at the two Ibasso dongles.

I thought this one did not support the iPhone?

 

[PlantsmanTX]

I thought this one did not support the iPhone?

I don't know. I was speaking in terms of general value.

 

[hanaxxaru]

Only the earliest models of iPods had Wolfson dacs. Apple later switched to Cirrus Logic dac which is featured in all their later models of iPods, iPhones and iPads. Wolfson used linear filter, while Cirrus dacs in Apple products used exclusively minimum phase filters.
I have both X4 and iDea. X4 sounds warmer, more laid back with woolly bass and less treble energy. It is more pleasant for long long listening sessions, but has less precise soundstage and imaging. iDea is typical Sabre dac, sounds faster, more energetic with lots of treble energy, but is also more fatiguing and can be sibilant with some headphones. It depends of your musical tastes and of your choice of headphones. Brighter HPs like AKG and Beyers go better with Wolfson and therefore with X4, darker HPs like Senns and Audezes go better with Sabre and iDea.
AKM is somewhat puzzling. Older AKMs were more linear and neutral, newer AKMs sound more like Wolfson, with laid back treble.

Sorry for bump old post.. does x4 have same power compared to idea?

 

[DjBobby]

i

Sorry for bump old post.. does x4 have same power compared to idea?

iDea - 35.8 mW at 32 Ohm
X4 - 80 mW at 32 Ohm